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Publications

Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.

Filter Total Items: 1337

An assessment of vertical land movement to support coastal hazards planning in Washington state

The sea and land change elevation spatially and temporally from a multitude of processes, so it is necessary to constrain the movement of both to evaluate how coastlines will evolve and how those evolving coastlines will impact the natural and built environment over time. We combine land movement observations from global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs), leveling of geodetic monuments, and tid
Authors
Tyler Newton, Ray J. Weldon, Ian M. Miller, David Schmidt, Harriet Morgan, Eric Grossman, Guillaume S. Mauger

Onshore flow characteristics of the 1755 CE Lisbon tsunami: Linking forward and inverse numerical modeling

The 1755 CE Lisbon earthquake triggered the largest historical tsunami ever impacting the Atlantic coasts of Europe. Despite recent efforts to better understand this event, there are still unanswered questions about the location of its epicenter and whether physical and historical evidences are in agreement.Inverse modeling using tsunami sediments can be applied to quantify onshore flow characteri
Authors
Ivana Bosnic, Pedro JM Costa, Francisco Dourado, SeanPaul La Selle, Guy R. Gelfenbaum

Role of future reef growth on morphological response of coral reef islands to sea-level rise

Coral reefs are widely recognised for providing a natural breakwater effect that modulates erosion and flooding hazards on low‐lying sedimentary reef islands. Increased water depth across reef platforms due sea‐level rise (SLR) can compromise this breakwater effect and enhance island exposure to these hazards, but reef accretion in response to SLR may positively contribute to island resilience. Mo
Authors
Gerd Masselink, Robert T. McCall, Eddie Beetham, Paul Kench, Curt Storlazzi

USGS permafrost research determines the risks of permafrost thaw to biologic and hydrologic resources

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with university, Federal, Tribal, and independent partners, conducts fundamental research on the distribution, vulnerability, and importance of permafrost in arctic and boreal ecosystems. Scientists, land managers, and policy makers use USGS data to help make decisions for development, wildlife habitat, and other needs. Native villages and cities
Authors
Mark P. Waldrop, Lesleigh Anderson, Mark Dornblaser, Li H. Erikson, Ann E. Gibbs, Nicole M. Herman-Mercer, Stephanie R. James, Miriam C. Jones, Joshua C. Koch, Mary-Cathrine Leewis, Kristen L. Manies, Burke J. Minsley, Neal J. Pastick, Vijay Patil, Frank Urban, Michelle A. Walvoord, Kimberly P. Wickland, Christian Zimmerman

Nearshore water quality and coral health indicators along the west coast of the Island of Hawaiʻi, 2010–2014

Coral reefs worldwide are experiencing rapid degradation in response to climate and land-use change, namely effects of warming sea-surface temperatures, contaminant runoff, and overfishing. Extensive coral bleaching caused by the steady rise of sea-surface temperatures is projected to increase, but our understanding and ability to predict where corals may be most resilient to this effect is limite
Authors
Eric E. Grossman, Lisa Marrack, Nathan R. vanArendonk

The weight of cities: Urbanization effects on Earth’s subsurface

Across the world, people increasingly choose to live in cities. By 2050, 70% of Earth's population will live in large urban areas. Upon considering a large city, questions arise such as, how much does that weigh? What are its effects on the landscape? Does it cause measurable subsidence? Here I calculate the weight of San Francisco Bay region urbanization, where 7.75 million people live at, or nea
Authors
Thomas E. Parsons

Geochemistry of coastal permafrost and erosion-driven organic matter fluxes to the Beaufort Sea near Drew Point, Alaska

Accelerating erosion of the Alaska Beaufort Sea coast is increasing inputs of organic matter from land to the Arctic Ocean, and improved estimates of organic matter stocks in eroding coastal permafrost are needed to assess their mobilization rates under contemporary conditions. We collected three permafrost cores (4.5–7.5 m long) along a geomorphic gradient near Drew Point, Alaska, where recent er
Authors
Emily M. Bristol, Craig T. Connolly, Thomas Lorenson, Bruce M. Richmond, Anastasia G. Ilgen, Charles R. Choens, Diana L. Bull, Mikhail Z. Kanevskiy, Go Iwahana, Benjamin M. Jones, James W. McClelland

Toward an integrative geological and geophysical view of Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes

The Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ) is an exceptional geologic environment for recording evidence of land level changes, tsunamis, and ground motion that reveals at least 19 great megathrust earthquakes over the past 10 kyr. Such earthquakes are among the most impactful natural hazards on Earth, transcend national boundaries, and can have global impact. Reducing the societal impacts of future event
Authors
Maureen A. L. Walton, Lydia M. Staisch, Tina Dura, Jessie K. Pearl, Brian Sherrod, Joan S. Gomberg, Simon E. Engelhart, Anne Trehu, Janet Watt, Jonathan P. Perkins, Robert C. Witter, Noel Bartlow, Chris Goldfinger, Harvey Kelsey, Ann Morey, Valerie J. Sahakian, Harold Tobin, Kelin Wang, Ray Wells, Erin Wirth

The effect of changing sea ice on wave climate trends along Alaska's central Beaufort Sea coast

Diminishing sea ice is impacting the wave field across the Arctic region. Recent observation- and model-based studies highlight the spatiotemporal influence of sea ice on offshore wave climatologies, but effects within the nearshore region are still poorly described. This study characterizes the wave climate in the central Beaufort Sea coast from 1979 to 2019 by utilizing a wave hindcast model tha
Authors
Cornelis M. Nederhoff, Li H. Erikson, Anita C Engelstad, Peter A. Bieniek, Jeremy L. Kasper

Process-based models and studies of coastal change to inform habitat restoration and climate change adaptation

Puget Sound salmon and estuary recovery strategies identify tens of thousands of acres of floodplain and estuary habitat restoration needed to re-establish ecosystem functions lost or degraded from western land use (Simenstad et al., 2011); the extent for nearshore habitat remains uncertain. Sediment is critical for shaping the structure and functions of these ecosystems and the success of many ha
Authors
Eric E. Grossman

Coastal permafrost erosion

Highlights• Since the early 2000s, erosion of permafrost coasts in the Arctic has increased at 13 of 14 sites with observational data that extend back to ca. 1960 and ca. 1980, coinciding with warming temperatures, sea ice reduction, and permafrost thaw.• Permafrost coasts along the US and Canadian Beaufort Sea experienced the largest increase in erosion rates in the Arctic, ranging from +80 to +1
Authors
Benjamin M. Jones, Anna M. Irrgang, Louise M. Farquharson, Hugues Lantuit, Dustin Whalen, Stanislav Ogorodov, Mikhail Grigoriev, Craig E. Tweedie, Ann E. Gibbs, Matt C Strzelecki, Alisa Baranskaya, Nataliya Belova, Anatoly Sinitsyn, Art Kroon, Alexey Maslakov, Gonçalo Vieira, Guido Grosse, Paul Overduin, Ingmar Nitze, Christopher V. Maio, Jacquelyn R. Overbeck, Mette Bendixen, Piotr Zagórski, Vladimir Romanovsky
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